


spend time, spend love

by signal



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Egregious Dragging of Netflix's Sabrina, English University Setting, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Possible Spoiler Content, Sickfic, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 19:32:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16729383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/signal/pseuds/signal
Summary: Jeno screws his face up at the other boy, hands travelling from where they’re holding his feet in place to pinch at his ankle. Donghyuck lets out a squawk, drawing his legs back up to him and glowering over at the betrayal. “After I gave you myjumper. You’re a shit boyfriend.”“You’re right,” Jeno nods gravely, letting out a dramatic sigh. “Let’s break up.”Or, in which Donghyuck and Jeno celebrate their eight months together with plans to stuff their face with gross food and critique poor teen TV-show writing. A little thing like a cold threatens to get in the way of that.





	spend time, spend love

**Author's Note:**

> to preface: i have a thread on twitter where i make little aus with recommendations i get on my curiouscat! this. got out on hand. way more out of hand that my nahyuck one. and i'm not sure if i love it or hate it but i'll post this here anyways
> 
> **NOTES:**   
>  1) mild spoilers for the first two or so eps of netflix's sabrina. i didn't hate this show as much as this will lead you to believe.  
> 2) jeno's got a cold bless him so there's just general descriptions of unwellness  
> 3) i didn't get to explain much... im gonna post this and return to update tags and these notes sometime tomorrow cos its 5:30 am ok by..e...
> 
> **EDIT:**  
>  4) ok a few days later i’ve reformatted this to flow a little better and fixed some early morning writing mistakes!!  
> 5) if you have any prompts plz direct them to my cc at the ending notes! thank u

 

If Jeno is honest, he probably dislikes about three things on this Earth. (He says dislike, because as of right now, he quantifiably does not believe in the meaning of hate, and that is completely valid.)

The first: having 9am lectures that revolve around the  generally awful monarchic leaders of the past. He loves history, can’t get enough of the past to be honest, but not when he has to learn about ridiculous men who go on power trips the moment someone brings them the incorrect type of leather. Boring.

The second: when the convenience store built into their campus runs out of all the chicken and mayo sandwiches rendering his meal deal plans absolutely out the window. To be frank, it’s the only thing that gets him through his three (3!) Thursday lectures. Don’t take that away from him.

The third: getting sick. Kind of like right now, actually.

 

“Hey, Jen, are you like... doing alright?”

It’s the end of the day, and after Jeno came to meet him after Donghyuck’s run-through of the monologue he’s preparing for class, they’re wandering back to Donghyuck’s flat, AKA the stuff of legend. He got absolutely shafted in first year with a completely broken down quarters, repairs having to be logged literally every other week from a broken tap to the desk literally falling apart in a heap on the floor.

In order for Donghyuck not to tarnish their reputation (which, he most _definitely_ was planning on doing. Sit-in protests were being organized, commissioned flyers were being designed — he was paying Renjun in multiple Skittles share packets — the works. Jeno remembers feeling genuinely head-over-heels enough to offer to join him in said demonstrations. Donghyuck had flashed him the most wonderful smile and said _I knew there was a reason I keep you around other than those pretty eyes, Jeno Lee._ ) the management offer him the highest studio suite for the lowest price.

Donghyuck, a man who receives less student loan than he would like, accepts almost immediately, but not before showcasing Renjun’s wonderful art on his Instagram story for the world to see and a cheeky _what could hv been... :/_ tagline.

The studio is more than alright, though. There’s a more-than-decent sized TV for student living, a really comfy sofa if you lay the pillows just right, floor heating and at least three flyers of takeaway food pinned to the notice board that has their names on it for a feast tonight.

(Also, nothing’s broken.)

Jeno’s been looking forward to this for _days_ , enough to maybe... not exactly pay attention to the growing ache in his head, or the roughness of his throat. So sue him.

Donghyuck keeps looking over at his profile as Jeno resolutely stares on ahead, chewing his inner cheek. Their shoulders keep brushing as they stroll on together, turning the corner and walking up the short cobblestone trail to get to his apartment block.

Despite the fact they’ve been dating for eight months now, and considering the fact they’ve known each other for a year already, even the littlest things still make a fluttering of giddiness in his chest. But why shouldn’t they? Donghyuck is like, the most wonderful person he’s ever met to say the least.

“What d’ya mean?” He asks, trying to be as un-suspicious as possible, trying not to sniffle any more than he already has whilst Donghyuck fiddles with his door hob. His nose is runny, in that gross way where it just won’t stop leaking because of the cold weather and he... strongly dislikes it.

He’s wrapped from head to toe, gloves and scarf to a coat with a fur-lined hood to boot, and hands shoved in his pockets which ruined any chance to hold hands earlier on, but there’s always later, he supposes. “Do I look like I’m dying?”

“I mean. Not to that extent, but, if that’s where you’re going with this,” Donghyuck replies, looking back with a frown. He says the next bit a little softly, “You do look a little. Um, rough?”

“Wow,” Jeno scoffs, knowing it’s probably completely valid but almost pouting back anyway. “I’m fine, Hyuck. Pride a little wounded, I guess.”

The door buzzes, and Jeno uses the interruption to reach across his boyfriend and open the door for him like a university accommodation-level concierge. Donghyuck bursts out laughing, a warm splash of colour on the dull day, curtsying over exaggeratedly before slipping into the warmth of the building. Jeno follows.

 

*

 

“What do you fancy, then?” Donghyuck asks, showering Jeno with more takeaway leaflets than he anticipated and promptly joining him on the sofa.

Or, rather, he collapses back at the opposite end, feet landing on Jeno’s lap on top of all the leaflets. They’ve changed, showered and gotten a bit more comfortable to cuddle up on the couch.

Donghyuck digs his heels into Jeno’s thigh in a bid to A) get even a little bit more comfortable and B) irritate the other boy. He’s in those stupid fluffy socks that are lined in pink and purple that Mark bought for him during their group’s Secret Santa last year as a joke (£1 from New Look, a great deal) not knowing Donghyuck would, true to Donghyuck’s sensibilities, well and truly make them his bitch.

Jeno screws his face up at the other boy, hands travelling from where they’re holding his feet in place to pinch at his ankle. Donghyuck lets out a squawk, drawing his legs back up to him and glowering over at the betrayal. “After I gave you my _jumper_. You’re a shit boyfriend.”

“You’re right,” Jeno nods gravely, letting out a dramatic sigh. “Let’s break up.”

“You’re also incredibly unfunny,” Donghyuck skates on at that, whisking himself away to go and choose what to watch on the laptop. He kneels down, pulling up the sleeves of the hoodie that he’s wearing before tossing a look over his shoulder at Jeno, who’s wearing an unimpressed look on his face like last year’s S/S collection. “You’d die without me.”

“To be determined,” Jeno says, masking a throaty cough with a chuckle and grinning almost wildly when Donghyuck looks over again with furrowed brow. “Anyways... food.”

“Food,” Donghyuck agrees, turning back to the laptop. “What you thinking? If you say Domino’s, I’ll kick you out on your ass, but if you say Pizza Hut... you might just be onto something.”

Jeno opens his mouth, breathes in, in order to actually speak, but the rawness of his throat seems to worsen just by doing that. He grimaces, relieved that his boyfriend isn’t looking at him right now.

“I’m actually... like, not that hungry? Sorry, Hyuck,” Jeno says, phrasing it like a question in his own embarrassment.

He’d been so excited to pig out and watch a one or two (ten) episodes of the most recent, dumb teen angst show Netflix had let out into the world. But here he is. Too unwell to even consider eating a whole pizza to himself. His second to worst nightmare, frankly.

“Not hungry?” Donghyuck whirls around at that, danger level SIGMA worthy pout on his face at the news. “I don’t want to finish a whole Texas barbecue-base by myself, dude. I can, and I will if I must, but I don’t think you want to spend our eight months watching me devour something like that. Unless you’re into that, of course. I don’t judge.”

Jeno makes a face at that last bit, eyebrows raised comically wide. He imagines Donghyuck, acting ridiculously sexy with a big smudge of barbecue sauce on the corner of his mouth.

He opens his mouth, unsure of where to go next, before just huffing out a laugh at the thought.

“Nothing would bring me more joy than that, actually.”

Donghyuck laughs at that, then. His loud, unabashed one that Jeno likes _oh_ so much, the one where his whole body moves to the tune of it, the one he doesn’t hide his mouth with his hand because he’s too entertained to feel self-conscious.

“You’re such a nerd, ugh,” Donghyuck sighs out the last inch of laughter, cheeks a little red.

“One of my many stunning qualities,” Jeno beams proudly, ignoring the prickle of gooseflesh that’s swept over his body. He knows he’s not properly cold, that it’s not cold in this room exactly, just his own cold acting up but he doesn’t want to ruin this anymore by being annoying or weird.

“Well I have a couple share-bags of Walkers if you fancy them? You should eat regardless,” Donghyuck says in a matter-of-fact way, straightening up and grabbing them from the cupboards in the little kitchen area. “Even if it’s... ew, cheese and onion. Why did I buy these again?”

“You were tipsy on the way to the PER-ARTS social and passed the small Tesco’s with a deal on them. Nobody could stop you, now that I think about it,” Jeno says, fondly remembering back to that moment.

Donghyuck was going on and on about how he needed a snack to even have the energy to deal with Siyeon bragging over being chosen for a solo for the Christmas showcase that Donghyuck was vying for.

It was that, or three pitchers for £8, and everyone knew that they much rather wanted Donghyuck to be sated through means of a packet of crisps rather than alcohol-fused frustration.

“My one vice... my tenacity. Ugh,” Donghyuck says wistfully, opening the small fridge and pulling out two cans of fizzy pop, coming back and dumping it all on the table. “Okaaaaay, just need to press play on the laptop aaand... Perfect. Let’s go: _Sabrina_ marathon.”

“If this turns out to be bad I will be _incredibly_ disappointed, and I honestly might never forgive you,” Jeno says gravely, smiling when Donghyuck directs a shocked look at his boyfriend.

He sticks his tongue out at Jeno. “We’re going through this together, jackass, so not if I never forgive you first.”

The thump of the Netflix intro screen, and then the surprisingly intricate title sequence for the show they had so desperately wanted to watch begins, swiftly shutting them up.

Donghyuck shuffles over in the least subtle way, reaching over to brush his fingers over his wrist lightly. Jeno took that as a sign to move it a little closer to him and did just as such, biting down on a smile when Donghyuck wraps a hand around it and pulls it up and around his shoulders.

They’d been meaning to start this for ages, separately funny enough, but with Jeno’s midterms and Donghyuck’s prep for the semester-end show, they hadn’t found the time to do so. Donghyuck had complained to him about it once as they walked back from the Student Union together last week, linked arms and mildly dodgy steps due to the copious amounts of only half-decent food they’d eaten.

“I just want to bury my feelings into a shitty TV show. Just some cringy Netflix bullshit. I want to bury my whole state of being into like… Sabrina, for example,” Donghyuck had said, sighing loudly enough for another student walking past them to give them a weird look on the way to the library.

“Donghyuck, oh my god,” Jeno had gasped, practically wiggling as he walked. “How can you be in my head like this? I wanted to watch that too! Really badly, actually. Salem is cool.”

“Of course you would think that,” Donghyuck scoffs, pulling him a little closer regardless.

“No seriously! He’s a well-thought out character! The humour,” Jeno urges, feline-shaped stars in his eyes, “the style, the voice acting. I want to see how well he’s done in this!”

“Well then, Jen,” Donghyuck had merely laughed, matching his steps with his boyfriend’s. “Why don’t we watch it next week?”

 

*

 

Seventeen minutes in, and whilst he can’t deny he’s enjoying the show, Jeno’s starting to find it a bit too difficult to concentrate on.

His focus is mostly on the boy whose head is buried almost too perfectly up against his neck, hand holding his own that’s drawing the other boy close. His weight is pleasant, not stifling, and Jeno would frankly be happy closing the laptop and wrapping himself around Donghyuck until he falls into a hopefully fitful sleep.

The lights are too bright, the squawks of the titular character every time something doesn’t go her way, it’s all too much for his senses and he’s honestly not enjoying the experience at all.

It’s not fair of him to take this away from Donghyuck though, so he sits through it patiently, every so often turning and placing a light kiss on the curly ruffles of Donghyuck’s dark hair and screwing his nose around as he tries not to sneeze.

The other boy shifts after the third, pulling back a little to look up at Jeno whilst Sabrina is campaigning to Father Blackwood about how she doesn’t want to sign her life away in the Book of the Beast. (It’s all very dramatic, Jeno decides. Also a significant lack of cats as of yet.)

“Not that I’m not incredibly flattered you’re focusing more on me rather than the show you’ve been wanting to see for weeks,” Donghyuck starts, voice a little more sedated and lower, “but have you even been watching it?”

He blinks slowly, and Jeno finds himself smiling without meaning to, probably the dopey and wonderful one he sometimes has. Not too unlike the way he looked at Donghyuck when he wasn’t looking back the first night they had all gone out together.

It was the same night that Jaemin had called him out on it when it was just the two of them by the bar, a wry smile on his face. It was embarrassing, blood draining out of his cheeks and leading him to stammer out that  _it’s not what you think, Jaem._

Jaemin, all-knowing and omniscient, simply patted his shoulder and told him that _it’s okay if it is, though._

Jeno opens his mouth that to be honest, no, he hasn’t been watching, not really, but Donghyuck frowns for the third time that night and pushes himself up and away from Jeno. He mourns the warmth, as Donghyuck holds fast to his hand but ducks out from under his arm; carefully holding Jeno’s hand as though it might shatter. “Dude, are you alright? You’re... literally shivering?”

Jeno sighs then, feeling his gammy throat shudder through the action. Donghyuck was right, earlier. He’s not sure if he looks rough, but he certainly feels it.

“I don’t feel... great,” Jeno admits finally, free hand coming to rub over his chest. If it’s an infection and he has to go to the Doctors, he’ll kick everyone else’s ass and then his own. “But I’ll be fine, Hyuck. We can just carry on—”

There’s a pressure building up in his nose, tickling at his sinuses uncomfortably and Jeno pivots quick away and practically buries his nose into his shoulder to avoid projectile mucas-ing his boyfriend. He leans back, looking sheepish and a little unhappy up at Donghyuck, “... sorry.”

“Have you even seen yourself? God, look,” Donghyuck hisses, mad, worried but not _too_ angry. A healthy mix. Jeno thinks it’s valid. He pulls out his phone, swiping with fury a couple of times until the camera app absorbs the screen. He pushes it into Jeno’s face, urging him to look.

And boy, does he not look good.

His face is flushed, to say the least. Rosy cheeks, rosy nose, and there’s a wetness to his eyes that clings to his eyelashes and makes him realise he’s either been getting worse or just _really_ not taking this seriously. He coughs then, too tired to stop it and it makes Donghyuck look even sadder.

“Oops,” is all he says, which makes Donghyuck, who’s hands have migrated to hover over his face like he wants to kiss him or squeeze his cheeks even redder, even more animated.

“ _Oops,_ is that all you can say?” Donghyuck sounds incredulous, swatting at him. Jeno whines, curling into himself at that. “Why didn’t you tell me before, you fucking nerd?! I’m so worried about you!”

“I just wanted to spend time with you, especially — ugh, especially today,” Jeno says quietly, pausing in the middle to sniff. His nose is running again. He lets out a sigh, wiping at his eyes roughly, only stopping when Donghyuck reaches up to take them into his own. He looks pensive, biting the inside of his cheek again. “I know it’s dumb…” Jeno continues, insecurity prickling at the back of his neck.

“Don’t say that, nothing that leaves your mouth is ever dumb,” Donghyuck says a little absently. “Get up, get up. Easy now,”

Donghyuck’s tirade softens as he stands and then hoists Jeno up as the ending tune to the pilot episode they’re watching. It’s softer than the dialogue, and Jeno finds it nice, eyes slipping shut for a moment. When he opens them, he finds Donghyuck peering up at him with worry etched into his face like a stone carving. “You good, pretty boy?”

“’M good, just need to rest. Don’t worry about me, Donghyuckie,” Jeno mumbles back, rubbing Donghyuck’s back comfortingly; thumb sweeping in the way he knows the other likes.

“Let’s go over to my bed, yeah?” Donghyuck says a little quieter this time, mouth twisted. Jeno wonders briefly how hard he fucked up. He’s practically bodily carried over, and luckily it’s only a few steps away from the sofa considering he lives in a studio with interesting architecture.

Donghyuck tells him to wait, as he turns to face his wardrobe with the row of drawers built just below. He fiddles around for a bit, obviously searching for something, and making a noise of excitement when he pulls out a soft-looking patchwork quilt. “Emergency winter blankets, retrieved.”

Donghyuck wanders back over, telling him to get comfortable on the bed. Jeno sits down on the edge, hands playing with the fabric coming loose in the outer hem of his sweatpants and blinking up at Donghyuck who approaches him until he’s standing between his boyfriend’s knees.

Whipping the blanket out, he brandishes it in an arcing motion to come around Jeno’s shoulders, then pulls back and teases softly. “You look like a frail superhero, old man.”

“There’s literally months between us,” Jeno says flatly, after sneezing again as Donghyuck heads back over to the TV to disconnect his laptop. He feels guilty when he sees Donghyuck look back and worry his bottom lip with his teeth. “Hey, maybe I should go? I don’t want you to get sick, Hyuck. It’s not fun.”

He stands, then, laptop by his side and fiddling with his hoodie string with his one free hand.

“How about this? If you really want to go, you can go, but I’m ordering you a taxi because you’re too sleepy and,” he gestures to Jeno, who looks like an old woman wrapped up in that blanket and it looks like Donghyuck is physically resisting taking a picture of him, “too _sick_ to walk home on your own, like I don’t want to keep you here if you’re uncomfortable or too unwell but also, if you want, I would much rather you, like. Stay here, in the warm, with me, where I can look after you, I guess. Up to you, though,” Donghyuck finishes, looking away with red-tipped ears and an embarrassed expression. “Whatever, and stuff.”

There’s a warm feeling that pools in the off-center of Jeno’s chest.

“Aw, Donghyuckie getting all shy,” he teases, corners of his lips curling at how shy Donghyuck had turned. “Of course I’ll stay, I literally want to be with you like all of the time,” the way he say it is matter-of-fact, his filter slipping in his sickness, “just don’t blame me when you wake up with your throat feeling like sandpaper, I guess.”

“I’m willing to take that risk,” Donghyuck says after a moment of simply staring at Jeno, laughing like a bell chime as he wanders back over to sit with Jeno. His cheeks look a little red as he approaches but Jeno doesn’t comment, moreover happy he can cuddle again, frankly. “Oh!” He snaps his fingers before he sits, and Jeno whines again, reaching out to fist his hand in the material of Donghyuck’s jumper and tugs pitifully. “Would you like some water?”

“Noooo, no,” Jeno says, pulling again and making Donghyuck tumble down to sit next to him. “Just you, please.”

They both shuffle back until they hit the headboard, and Donghyuck pulls the extra fabric of the blanket over his head and tucking in close with Jeno.

“Hey, now we look like a weird, conjoint super hero. With your brains and my beauty, there’s nothing we can’t do!”

“Kinda making it sound like we’re villains now, babe,” Jeno mumbles with that same dopey grin. Donghyuck had turned the lights off apart from one bedside lamp that’s facing away from them, making the room easier to cope with and Jeno not feel like all of his senses are being assaulted.

He looks pretty, as always he supposed, but the warm light from the lamp shines through the different materials in the patch quilt; pretty designs reflecting on his skin.

“As long as I’m with you, Jen, does whatever flag we fly matter?” Donghyuck deadpans, staring deeply at him and Jeno snorts, dissolving into giggles that sound only a little croaky. Donghyuck stares at him, eyes filled a little with awe and that small smile on his face. “Hey, you wanna nap? I don’t mind.”

“Nah, we came here to watch this show…” Jeno mumbles, steeling his resolve and trying not to come across as drowsy as he feels. “One more ep, maybe?”

“Whatever you want,” Donghyuck murmurs with that same smile, stretching out an arm and pulling the laptop closer to them by the base. He opens it, turning it away from Jeno when it powers back on and immediately scaling down the brightness thoughtfully. Jeno bumps his shoulder in quiet thanks and Donghyuck’s smile grows just a little more without looking.

 

The next episode plays on, and on and Jeno forces himself to keep up. This episode is a carry-on from the first, and Jeno finds it easier to catch on with what’s going on considering he knows what’s going on, but even so it’s a little rickety here and there. Finding magical loopholes, a stereotypical forbidden — if not incredibly straight — love story, and a visit to a mortal lawyer for Sabrina’s very sudden death trial.

All very hard to keep up with, if you asked Jeno. His eyebrows furrow as he follows the blonde haired girl scurry about her human high school, fighting back a yawn and determined to keep going.

It’s like Donghyuck senses he’s tired, or at least senses the tremor as he contains his sleepiness, and he reaches up. His hand rests on his neck to run a thumb over the skin just below his ear, a soothing touch that’s feather light.

Jeno melts into it, and Donghyuck very slowly guides his head onto his shoulder. Jeno isn’t incredibly taller, but they definitely have a difference, but somehow he’s so comforted he can’t even be bothered about the stiffness of his neck or legs.

He tries to fight it off, but with his tension being brushed away with each thumb stroke, he ends up dozing off in the last ten minutes of the episode. He only wakes up to Donghyuck petting his head slightly and murmuring for him to open his eyes.

When Jeno does, he focuses on Donghyuck in pieces. His uniquely shaped lips, the moles dotted around his skin that he proudly calls his _beauty marks_ , the faint smudges of the day’s thin eyeliner on his lash line. Most of all, the concern in his eyes.

“Hi there,” Jeno mumbles, feeling at the corner of his mouth just to see if his true worst nightmare came true: drooling on his boyfriend.

Donghyuck continues on whilst Jeno confirms he’s safe this time round, “I want you to rest, but I don’t want you to overheat in the night, especially considering you haven’t had anything to drink yet, you know?”

He sounds so soft, and so calming, and so unlike the boisterous Donghyuck Lee that Jeno followed after then promptly fell head over heels for during the first time they met, that his heart seems to flutter all over again.

He just finds himself following his suggestions, nodding mutely as Donghyuck helps him tug his arms out of the sleeves after the blanket falls back to the bed. He pulls it over his head, shirt riding up and hair sticking every which way, but he immediately feels a lot less suffocated.

Donghyuck stifles a giggle behind his hand as Jeno looks up to him with a vacant expression that’s still being beleaguered with sleep, reaching forward and messing around with his hair to let it fall properly.

“You wanna brush your teeth?” Donghyuck asks afterwards, moving to throw the jumper into a small pile of pitiful clothes by the foot of his wardrobe, before glancing at Jeno who’s arms were now around himself, and gently folds it over his desk chair across the room with a blanched facial expression. “No judgement, though. I know you’re dying right about now.”

Jeno yawns then, hoping his breath wasn’t too rank.

“If I leave this bed I, _ugh_ ,” he pauses as a wave of nausea attempts to swallows him whole, “I might genuinely collapse. Not to be dramatic, or anything.”

“Got it. Definitely having a drink of water before you sleep though.”

Jeno moans at that, nose scrunching up at the thought of anything passing his lips that isn’t exclusively made up of oxygen molecules. “Don’t complain, it’s good for you. Also I have some paracetamol if you want, it should help you feel better in the morning, right?”

“...Okay,” Jeno mumbles, nodding sleepily. Donghyuck gets up, long legs stretching out and helping him cross into his kitchen area quickly. He lets the tap run a little, humming as he turns to pick through the little plastic takeaway box on the counter being used for somewhat important bits and pieces. He retrieves a sheet of untouched painkillers, before returning to fill up a cup and bringing them both over to Jeno.

Jeno hears a quiet _there’s a good boy_ and flushes with a little embarrassment that he’s being taken care of by his boyfriend on their most important day. He swallows the pills dry like the total freak he’s been called before, but Donghyuck funnily enough, chasing them by gulping down the water and relishing the feeling of rehydration.

“Perfect,” Donghyuck mumbles with a sweet smile. “Alright, have a snooze. If you can sleep the whole night, that’s fine, but if you wake up hungry later I’ll make you whatever you want, yeah?”

“You,” Jeno says with an amused flicker in his eyes, before tamping down on a cough that was sure to wrack his lungs, “you definitely don’t have any ingredients,” he carries on with a quiet laugh.

Donghyuck looks incredulous, hand finding his hip as he complains. “You’re supposed to be sick, not mocking me any chance you get, remember? There’s a 24 hour convenience store down the road, loser. I’ll travel the world, or like, the streets for you, at least.”

Jeno opens his mouth to banter back, but lets out a sigh instead at the uncomfortable pressure in his chest that’s slowly resurfacing. “Just — go lie down, Jen, it’s okay,” Donghyuck says a little more soft this time, hand running over the top of his head again. Jeno follows his lead once more, shuffling down and tucking his feet under the covers to finally get comfortable.

Finally reclining on the soft bed is the biggest relaxant so far, he thinks. Donghyuck leans down, brushing the other boy’s fringe back off of his forehead and kissing away the crease between his slightly furrowed brows.

“Hey, Donghyuck,” Jeno says, burying a little deeper in the pillow before Donghyuck walks away from him. It smells of fresh linen, and it smells of Donghyuck, and that’s pretty much all Jeno could ever ask for. “I need to, ah, tell you something.”

“Hello, there,” Donghyuck says warmly, straightening out the covers surrounding his boyfriend. “What’s on your mind?”

“I’m sorry that you have to,” _sniff,_ “take care of me on our anniversary,” Jeno says, sounding a little delirious. He can’t see, because his eyes are closing rapidly, and sleep is pulling at him fasting than he expected. He reaches out blindly, and Donghyuck takes his hand gently, like it was made for him. “I like you a lot. Like, a _lot_ a lot, on the whole scale of things, and I hope that this doesn’t make you, like. Not like me. That’d be sad and... I, uh. I’d hate that the most, I think.”

Jeno’s words peter off as he pulls Donghyuck’s hand over with no resistance whatsoever, brushing his lips against the other’s knuckles in the lightest kiss, before he snuggles as far as humanely possible into the softness of the pillow.

His breathing evens out, leaving Donghyuck standing there, frozen and face alight in the dim light. He wants to scream, or maybe go and dance in the middle of the street at the indirect _love confession_ he’s just got from the older boy, and his heart is threatening to beat out of his chest.

He lets his hand slip out of Jeno’s grip, cradling it to his heart as he watches over Jeno for just a few moments longer. _No,_ he thinks, a warm feeling trailing through his body like molten gold. _I don’t think me quitting you is a possibility, Jeno Lee._

**Author's Note:**

> metaphorical character exploration with the theme of hate!!!!! oh boy
> 
> this was fun but i’m not confident about it :( i don’t write small things but i’m trying to grow i suppose...... anyways i will luv nohhyuck until the ends of the earth but i can’t do them justice.. jeno’s characterisation is like a wily eel
> 
> [twitter](http://twitter.com/majesticisms) • [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/nahei)


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